如何避免“桑迪”式癱瘓重演
????分布式發(fā)電所采用的技術(shù)包括天然氣發(fā)電以及地?zé)帷⑻柲艿瓤稍偕茉窗l(fā)電,可根據(jù)條件就地采用不同的發(fā)電技術(shù)。就地發(fā)電意味著即便電網(wǎng)出現(xiàn)故障,設(shè)備還可以自行緊急發(fā)電。比如在“桑迪”颶風(fēng)這樣的災(zāi)難中,這種應(yīng)急發(fā)電對醫(yī)院和公寓樓將發(fā)揮極大的作用。 ????包括通用電器(GE)、凱普斯通渦輪公司(Capstone Turbine)和布魯姆能源(Bloom Energy)在內(nèi)的許多公司都可以提供就地發(fā)電的技術(shù)。比如布魯姆能源公司的天然氣發(fā)電箱就被谷歌和其它數(shù)據(jù)中心管理公司所采用,以提供緊急備用電力。此外,還有許多公司正在與建筑物的所有人一道,評估能源使用情況,像約翰遜控制公司(Johnson Controls)、仲量聯(lián)行(Jones Lang Lasalle)和CBRE等公司也都有自己的方案。 ????許多國家已經(jīng)把分布式發(fā)電系統(tǒng)整合到了主要電網(wǎng)中。比如歐盟根據(jù)“第五框架計劃”已經(jīng)投資了大約7,000萬歐元,用于發(fā)展本地區(qū)的電網(wǎng)和島嶼電網(wǎng)的分布式發(fā)電系統(tǒng)、電力輸送、能源存儲以及高溫超導(dǎo)體等項目,以確保電網(wǎng)安全。八家領(lǐng)先的歐洲電力公司已經(jīng)聯(lián)手發(fā)起了大規(guī)模的分布式發(fā)電系統(tǒng)的部署,美國也不應(yīng)該落于人后。 ????美國的交通系統(tǒng)同樣漏洞百出,導(dǎo)致過去幾周內(nèi),生產(chǎn)力損失達數(shù)十億美元。雖然紐交所和納斯達克采用電子交易,但是由于交易員們根本沒法到達辦公室,因此兩大交易所也不得不停盤了——這可不是21世紀(jì)的交通系統(tǒng)應(yīng)該有的樣子。 ????我們可以采取以下三個措施,避免再次遭受交通癱瘓。 (1)在加油站安裝發(fā)電機 ????我們的交通網(wǎng)絡(luò)也嚴(yán)重依賴那個不可靠的電網(wǎng),因此我們現(xiàn)在應(yīng)該投資給加油站安裝發(fā)電機,為我們的交通網(wǎng)絡(luò)提供備用電力。如果沒有電力驅(qū)動加油泵,加油站就毫無用處了。既然是加油站,就肯定有足夠的柴油能用于發(fā)電。 ????如果加油站不想急著采購發(fā)電機,一旦災(zāi)難發(fā)生,它們也可以從租賃公司租用發(fā)電機。赫茲設(shè)備租賃公司(Hertz Equipment Rental)和聯(lián)合租賃公司(United Rental)就可以提供這樣的服務(wù)。(披露:筆者本人為赫茲公司提供電動汽車方面的咨詢服務(wù),所以很了解他們的設(shè)備租賃部門——許多樓宇的業(yè)主還不知道,像赫茲公司這種供應(yīng)商可以向他們提供備用電源。) |
????Distributed generation includes a range of technologies from natural gas in a combined heat and power setup to renewables such as geothermal or solar. Different power generation technologies can be combined right onsite. Having onsite power means that even if the grid goes down, the facility can still maintain emergency systems. This would have been of immense help for hospitals and apartment buildings that lost power during Sandy. ????A number of companies supply the technology for onsite generation including GE (GE), Capstone Turbine (CPST) and Bloom Energy. Bloom natural gas boxes are used by Google (GOOG) and other data center managers to provide immediate fail-over backup. A number of companies are working with building owners to assess their energy usage and options including Johnson Controls (JCI), Jones Lang Lasalle (JLL) and CBRE (CBE). ????Dozens of countries already have distributed generation systems integrated into the main grid. The European Union, in conjunction with the Fifth Framework Program has invested about 70 million Euros in distributed generation systems, electricity transmission, energy storage, and high temperature superconductors for power supply in regional local and island grids. Eight leading European energy utility companies have joined forces for a massive deployment of DGS -- we shouldn't stay behind. ????Our transportation system is also riddled with single points of failure that caused billions of dollars in productivity loss just in the last few weeks. Even though the NYSE and NASDAQ work with electronic trading they had to be closed for business since the traders were not able to make it to their offices—this is not a 21st century transportation system. ????Here are three actions we can take to prevent the transport meltdown we experienced: Add generators to filling stations ????We should invest now in generators at filling stations to provide back-up power for our transportation network, which is dependent on our unreliable power grid. Filling stations are useless without electricity to power the pumps. Of all places, filling stations have enough diesel fuel to keep a generator going to power the pumps. ????If gas stations want to hold off on purchasing a generator they can contract now with a generator rental company to supply one in case of disaster. Hertz Equipment Rental (HTZ) and United Rental (URI) are two such providers. (Full disclosure: I advise Hertz on EVs and learned about their equipment rental division – many building owners still do not know that these suppliers can outfit them with backup power.) |